Unemployment rates continue to fall

Unemployment rates declined in all but one of Tennessee’s 95 counties in May after every county had unemployment rate shrinkage in April, according to data released Thursday by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

“We continue to see a substantial drop in the unemployment rate of our metropolitan areas, which is great,” said TDLWD Commissioner Burns Phillips. “But the most encouraging numbers are coming from Tennessee’s distressed counties, many of which saw a significant drop in their unemployment rates.”

Wilson County’s unemployment rate in May was 2.2 percent, down from 2.9 percent in April and 3.7 in March. In May 2016, the county’s unemployment rate was 3.1 percent, compared to 4.8 percent in May 2015.

Wilson County had the third-lowest unemployment rate behind Williamson and Davidson counties with 2 percent and 2.1 percent unemployment rates, respectively. Sumner and Cheatham counties followed with a 2.3-percent unemployment rate.

Wilson County’s rate in May represented 1,540 unemployed workers compared to a 68,450-person workforce and does not include those who did not file with the labor department or no longer receive benefits.

Lebanon’s rate for May decreased from 3.3 percent in April to 2.5 percent. The city’s rate represented 360 unemployed workers compared to a 14,270-person labor force.

Mt. Juliet’s rate for May landed at 2.2 percent, a 0.7 percent decrease from April. The rate represented 370 unemployed workers compared to a 17,060-person work force.

The Nashville-Murfreesboro metropolitan area, which includes Wilson County, came in at 2.3 percent. The rate represented 22,540 unemployed workers compared to a 996,150-person workforce.

The national unemployment rate for May was 4.3 percent, a 0.1 percent decrease from April. The national rate represents more than 6.8 million unemployed workers compared to a workforce of about 160 million people.